


Not Worth Trading

by queen_scribbles



Category: Pillars of Eternity
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-09
Updated: 2018-09-09
Packaged: 2019-07-10 03:16:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15940679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queen_scribbles/pseuds/queen_scribbles
Summary: Prompt fill 51: Regret





	Not Worth Trading

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt fill 51: Regret

 

If there was one thing Adela’s companions learned quickly about her, it was that she preferred reading to any other recreational activity. Cards, drinks, whatever it was, she’d pass on all of them in favor of a good book. They still _asked_ , of course; it was the polite thing to do, and on the rare occasions she _didn’t_ have a book to read or new spells to learn, she was _very_ fun company. Still, it was largely just habit to ask, her ‘ _No, thank you_ ’ all but expected.

Which was probably why Hiravias’ jaw nearly hit the floor when she thumped her grimoire closed and answered a grinning, “I’d love to!”

His eye widened. “Wait, really?”

“Yeah.” Adela twirled the end of her braid, grin widening at his surprise. “if I have to stare at Arkemyr’s instructions for capricious hex five more seconds, I will go crazy. I dunno why Aloth likes that one so much; it’s so tricky to cast it’s almost as great a risk to the caster as the target. What’re we playing?”

“Kith’s Grace,” Hiravias replied as he tugged her toward the table where Edér and Kana already sat. “You ever played?”

“A few times,” she shrugged. “One of the merchants in the caravan out taught me.”

“Ah, a newbie!” the druid crowed, clapping her enthusiastically on the back. “This should be fun. You any good?”

Adela bit her lip and shrugged again. “I mean... I won a few times? But I kind of feel like he maybe let me win some of them? So I wouldn’t get discouraged, I guess.” But she didn’t really want to dwell on _that_ , and they’d reached the table anyway. “So, are we playing with money or...?”

“Naw, money’s too easy, ‘specially now,” Edér chuckled, pushing out a seat for her with his foot. “Glad you could join us, Adi.”

“Me, too, I think,” she said as she took her seat. “So if you don’t bet money, what do you use?”

“The winner gets to ask a question,” Kana answered. “Whoever lost by the most has to answer.”

“Oooh, that’s good,” Adela grinned. “Clever.”

“You ready then, boss?” Hiravias asked, nudging a stack of tiles toward her.

“Yep.” She pulled the stack close, ears twitching at the challenge in his voice.  “Who’s dealing?”

“First hand would be me.” He reached out and placed a tile in the center of the table. “Like I said, this should be fun.”

Adela craned her neck slightly to see the number, then bit the inside of her cheek. Ten. That was going to be tricky.... She shuffled through the tiles in her hand, trying to figure the most prudent one to play. There were still two more matches to this hand, after all. “What if,” she began, fiddling with her three tile and trying to buy time. “we each win a match?”

“Oh, a tie?” Hiravias grinned, running one finger under the strap for his eyepatch to adjust it. “If there’s a tie, dealer asks and you all have to answer.”

“Sounds fair.” With a sigh- _-Hope I don’t regret this_ \--Adela played her six instead of the three. She was committed now.

-o-

Seven hands later, she was indeed regretting this. Her handful of lessons around a campfire were no match for the years’ experience the others all had. She’d coughed up the story of her first kiss to Hiravias, worst nightmare--”Not countin’ the Watcher dreams”--to Edér, and both her favorite and least favorite books and why to Kana. It could’ve been worse; she had won a hand--learned the worst prank Edér ever played on Woden--and her other loss, said farmer lost by _more_ so she’d been spared spilling her guts that time. Hiravias and Kana were both _very_ good at Kith’s Grace.

Hiravias at least knew it, too, as evidenced by his smirk as he slapped down a one to win match and hand both. “Three in a row,” he gloated. “Let’s see now, Adi, what do I wanna know this time...”

Adela growled softly at his theatrics. “Very funny.”

“I think it is,” Edér said cheekily, winking as he played with his leftover tiles.

“Didn’t ask you,” she grumbled, propping her chin on one hand. “Not my fault I got lousy tiles that hand...”

“Happens to everyone sometimes,” Kana chipped in with a sympathetic smile.

“Got it,” Hiravias snapped his fingers. “Oh, wise Watcher, Lady of Caed Nua and arbiter of disputes, what’s your biggest regret?”

Adela snorted. “Aside from joining this game?” She bit her lip and fiddled with her tiles as she mulled the question over, glancing around the room for inspiration. “When I was younger, fifteen or sixteen, I was invited to study for a year at an academy in the Vailian Republics. It was a huge honor to be invited so young and from so far away.” She spun a tile on its corners between her fingertip and the tabletop. “I said no.”

“ _ **Why**_ would you _-_?” Kana blushed and coughed sheepishly in the wake of his outburst.  “Sorry.”

“No, that was about my family’s reaction, too.” She smirked. “Well, except Isi and Zac, but they were six and two respectively, so they didn’t understand the importance.”

“Why’d ya say no, if it was such a big deal?” Edér asked, taking a swig of his drink.

Adela shrugged. “The younger boys kept relapsing some _damned_ persistent  illness, and my older siblings had all started their own lives, so couldn’t help as much. I knew Mama felt overwhelmed with the thought of just Tia for help, so I didn’t feel right about leaving. Even though she told me to go.” She smiled wryly. “Two months after I sent my ‘ _Thank you for the consideration, I’m honored but regretfully must decline’_ , the boys got over whatever had been ailing them and were fine. On my parents’ urging I checked to see if the spot was still open, but of course it had been filled. I’m not sorry for putting my family first, but I do regret the missed opportunity. I’d probably be a completely different person if I’d gone, had vastly different experiences. Definitely wouldn’t have been in a position to join Odema’s caravan, so wouldn’t be Watcher, and wouldn’t have met any of you.”

“See, it turned out for the best,” Hiravias teased, raking the played tiles into a heap for the next hand. “Think how boring your life would be if you were surrounded by books rather than us.”

She raised an eyebrow skeptically. “Do you... not know me at all? Even after all our time traveling together? At least books don’t pry for my secrets.”

He winked. “On that note, ready to cough up another one, boss?”

Adela shot him a mock-glare as she dropped her remaining tiles into the carrying pouch. Part of her was having fun, and it was good to de-stress after how long she’d spent staring at that stupid spell, but a slowly growing sliver couldn’t help hoping for a polite out.

Almost as if he’d read her mind, Aloth picked that moment to look up from his grimoire and interject, “Actually, Adela, if you wouldn’t mind, I could use your help with something.”

She shot him a look, one eyebrow arched, and he returned a barely perceptible shrug. _It’s an excuse, if you want it. Maybe he_ did _read your mind._ “I think they can manage without me.”

“Sure, but it’s nice to not be th’ biggest loser for once,” Edér joked.

“Sorry.” Adela pushed away from the table with an apologetic smile and tried not to obviously hurry across the room to join Aloth. “Do you really need my help, or was that for my benefit?”

“Both, actually,” Aloth said with a wry smile. “I figured you might want an means of escape, and I could use your assistance with this spell.” He shifted position on the bed so she could sit next to him, his grimoire open in front of them. “You’re much better at Kalakoth’s creations than I am.”

Adela’s face warmed at the compliment. “Thank you. Which one were you trying to learn?” 

In answer, he simply tapped the grimoire’s page. Both of her eyebrows rose toward her bangs as she scanned the symbols.

“Freezing rake? Aloth, I’ve only known that one for a week myself, I don’t know how much help I can be,” she protested. She curled the end of her braid around one finger, crimping it tight.

“That’s a week’s experience you have on me,” he pointed out, tucking his hair behind one ear. “I’m not expecting to master it immediately, Adela, I just want input on how you grasped it, to see if that helps me do the same.”

“Well, alright.” She grinned, tugging on her braid as she studied the portion of the spell he’d inscribed in his grimoire. “Least I can do for you helping me escape the clutches of Kith’s Grace without looking like a coward.”

Aloth chuckled, watching her absently pick at one nail as she read. “That’s what friends are for, yes?” He was quiet for a moment, then, “Which academy?”

Adela blinked, mentally switching gears to figure out what he was talking about, vaguely surprised he was curious enough to pry. “Oh, um, Selona.” She picked at the nail harder when he visibly swallowed a comment. “I know, I know. I do occasionally kick myself for not going. Mama swore she and Tia would be alright, could ask the neighbors for help if they needed it.” She sighed. “I think... I was scared. I was a teenager and it was so far from home and I _did_ feel guilty about leaving when the boys were sick, but... I think I used that as an excuse. Regretted it even before the boys got better,” she babbled. It had taken _years_ to admit that to herself; telling a friend was even more cathartic. “That’s part of why I’m so adventurous now; I don’t wanna let another opportunity like that pass me by.”

“I can understand that,” Aloth nodded, running one finger along the page edge.  “It fits what I know of you quite well.”

She raised an eyebrow and looked up from the grimoire. “Are you implying I’m predictable?”

He shrugged. “Perhaps a little, but that’s not necessarily a _bad_ thing.  It means you’re dependable.”

“That’s one way of looking at it.” Adela pushed back loose wisps of hair and turned her attention back to the spell. “I can live with that. Now, what you wanna do with this spell...”

As she plunged into a detailed and enthusiastic description of her process for learning that particular incantation, she mentally conceded Hiravias had been right: Much as she might regret the missed opportunity and wonder who she’d be if she’d taken that more scholarly path, she would be absent several wonderful friends it would be a shame not to know.

_I’m still saying no to Kith’s Grace in the future and sticking with my books_ , she thought wryly, correcting part of a symbol that had smudged slightly. 

Her secrets would be safer that way, mundane as they might be.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Surprise, surprise, another of my characters has picked Aloth as her bff. It’s totally not obvious who my favorite character is, is it? /cough
> 
> Kith’s Grace is basically an Eoran version of blackjack(or pazaak/quasar, to use more nerdy references :P), but I haven’t put much thought into it beyond that for rules and such.


End file.
